There For Me
by Angel of Fire SG1
Summary: Jack gives Sam a teddy bear for her birthday...the card he leaves with it starts her rethinking her relationships...(S-J)


**There For Me**

**Spoilers: **_Everything up till Sacrifices_

**Season: **_8___

**Pairings: **_Sam/Jack_

**Summary: **_Jack gives Sam a teddy bear for her birthday...(S-J)_

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine!_

**A/N: **_Here we go again!!_

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**Part One**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Sam blinked and looked at her friends, smiling. So she should've been more suspicious when Daniel had turned up at her door and ordered her to go shopping. Daniel didn't usually like shopping.

"Thanks guys," she said, smiling.

Her living room had been transformed. There were balloons and streamers hanging from every possible place they could be hung in the room, there was a pile of presents on the table, which was covered in junk food.

She looked around at her friends. Daniel, Teal'c, Siler, Cassie, Felger and his lab assistant – Chloe (she wondered who had invited them), Feretti, Hammond, Jonas was even there, Jack and Pete. She walked up to Jonas and hugged him.

"Hi!" she said. "Why are you here?"

"Well I had holidays back on Kelowna so I came to visit and Teal'c dragged me here, I've only been around for an hour or so," Jonas grinned. "So I don't have a present for you…"

"That's OK," Sam grinned.

She hadn't had a birthday party since she was a teenager. And definitely not a surprise birthday party.

"Sam! Open my present first," Cassie said, running up to her and holding out a small box.

"Thanks Cass!" Sam said, taking the box and opening the lid.

Inside was a mouse. Sam looked at her in surprise.

"Uh, thanks Cassie…where'd you get this from?" she asked.

"A pet store!" Cassie grinned. "I thought you might need company for the weekends."

"I have company on the weekends," Sam replied as Pete walked over and put his arm around her.

"Yeah, well when he's not around," Cassie grinned again. "Hi Pete!"

"Ah Cassie, what am I supposed to keep him in?" Sam asked.

"Her! I called it Janet," Cassie said, a sad look crossing her face for a moment. "And that's where Teal'c comes in. Teal'c!"

Teal'c walked up, a large parcel in his arms, and bowed his head slightly. "This is the rest of your present ColonelCarter."

Sam sat down and placed it on the table in front of her, opening the massive parcel. It was a small enclosure for the mouse. Inside was another small box. Sam put her hand in and lifted it up. Inside was another mouse.

"I hope they're both girls," Sam said.

Cassie looked at Teal'c worriedly for a moment.

"They are," Teal'c said confidently.

"Phew," Sam said, taking both the mice out of their boxes and placing them in the cage.

The first one, the one more brown in colour, jumped up and starting running on the wheel. The one Teal'c had given her immediately started eating.

"It came with food?" Sam asked.

"Well we've had the mice a couple of days, we couldn't exactly keep them in the box," Cassie said.

"That wheel is hypnotising," Pete said, watching the wheel.

Sam smiled at it. "Yeah! It is."

"Carter! You have other presents you know!" Jack said, waving his beer and pointing towards the table.

She smiled and stood up, bouncing over to them like a little kid. She'd spent her last two birthday's offworld, and the other twenty or so before then by herself.

She had a new shirt from Daniel, a book on Quantum Cosmology from Felger, a box of chocolates from Chloe, a Star Wars DVD from Siler, an expensive looking watch from Hammond and a Major Matt Mason doll from Feretti.

"Very funny," she said, smiling at him.

He grinned back at her. "It took me forever to find! I had to order one in…apparently they don't make 'em anymore."

"Does it have a backpack that makes it fly?" she asked.

"Yep!" Feretti showed her the small backpack.

Sam grinned and put it back down on the table.

She had two presents left sitting on the table. Jack's and Pete's. She paused, not knowing who's to open first. She looked at them both, they were standing next to her, waiting for her to open their presents. Cassie and Daniel had wandered off to the kitchen, presumably to get more food, but everyone else was still crowded around the table.

She grabbed Jack's present and opened it. It was a smallish teddy bear. It was a chocolate brown and had a lighter brown ribbon tied around it's neck. Sam was surprised at how soft it was. She'd never held a teddy bear that was so soft. She flicked open the small card attached to its ear.

_Dear Sam_

_Happy Birthday_

_Love Jack_

She shut it quickly, hoping Pete hadn't seen. But he hadn't, he was smiling and talking to Feretti about baseball. Sam put the teddy bear back down on the table.

"Thanks sir," she said, looking at him briefly, not wanting to have long eye contact.

"Your welcome," he said in his typical Jack way.

"Open mine!" Pete said after a few seconds.

Sam picked up the smaller parcel and opened it, revealing a jewellery box. She opened it, to find a silver necklace. She looked at it again, it wasn't silver, it was too light. It was white gold.

That meant it was extremely expensive.

It was simple, and had a heart shaped diamond hanging off the middle.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "Pete, this looks really expensive!"

"I was hoping you'd wear it at the wedding," he said, smiling.

Sam glanced at Jack, who was staring at her. She felt Pete kiss her cheek and suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.

Why did they both have to be there?

She put the necklace in its box back down on the table next to Jack's teddy bear.

"Excuse me, I'm gonna get a drink," Sam said, disappearing quickly out of the room and into the kitchen.

Cassie and Daniel were icing the cake.

"Ah! Sam your not supposed to be in here! Get out!" Cassie said.

"I seen it now, haven't I?" Sam said. "Nice job by the way."

"You OK?" Cassie asked, suddenly noticing Sam's mood change.

"Fine," Sam replied, unconvincingly. "Anything I can do?"

"No," Daniel replied. "Go back to the other room and have fun?"

Sam opened her mouth but realised she had nothing to say in response. "OK…"

She turned around and walked towards her living room. Running directly into Pete.

"Hey, you OK?" he asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, fine!"

"You sure?" Pete didn't look too convinced.

"Yes," Sam lied.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up the wedding…" Pete said.

_In front of Jack_.

She knew he was thinking it. How did he know? Was it really that obvious? He'd only ever met him once, and she'd thought Pete had other things to worry about other than Jack at the time…plus that was almost a year earlier.

"It's OK," she replied, smiling.

"Go and have fun, I have to help Cassie and Daniel with dinner," Pete said.

"They're just icing the cake," Sam said.

"Ah, but we still have to cook dinner," Pete said. "I'll see you soon."

He kissed her on the forehead and walked past her into the kitchen. Sam sighed and walked back into the living room. Teal'c was sitting on the couch, watching the brown mouse running on the wheel.

"What's the grey one called?" Sam asked him.

"Thor," Teal'c responded, smiling slightly.

Sam grinned and sat down next to him. "How original of you."

"In fact, I thought it was extremely original," Teal'c said. "Nobody else would have a mouse named Thor."

Sam shrugged. "I guess."

"Is everything OK ColonelCarter?" Teal'c asked, looking at her.

_Why did everyone keep asking that?_

"Everything's fine," Sam said.

"Do you like the soft toy O'Neill gave you?" Teal'c asked.

"It's great!" Sam said, looking at the teddy sitting on the table.

"Teal'c helped me choose it," Jack said from behind her.

She looked at Teal'c accusingly. He'd known Jack was standing there when he'd asked what she thought of his present.

"Indeed," Teal'c nodded, smiling slightly. "I am going to get a drink."

He stood up and Jack replaced him on the couch.

"Having fun, Carter?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied, then added, "Sir…"

"So…" he said.

"I like the bear," she said, smiling.

"So did I," Jack said. "Soft isn't it?"

"Very," Sam replied.

Silence.

"You want a drink?" Jack asked.

"No thanks," Sam replied.

Silence.

"Awkward isn't it?" Jack said.

"Very," Sam said.

"I'm sorry," he said, standing up. "I'm gonna go…find Teal'c."

Feretti and Daniel were now standing at the table trying to figure out how Major Matt Mason was supposed to fly. Sam smiled and looked at the mice. The brown one had gotten sick of running on the wheel and now the grey one was taking its turn.

Her turn.

Sam stood up and walked over to Feretti and Daniel.

"Guys, let me do it," Sam said.

They spent the rest of the night talking and having fun. Daniel and Pete managed to burn the meat, so they had potatoes and vegetables without the meat. The cake was exceptionally nice, especially considering Cassie had made it from memory without using a cook book. In Sam's house, with her small amount of ingredients.

After dinner as they sat around talking Sam heard a loud crash come from the kitchen. She stood up and jogged into the kitchen.  
Pete and Jack were glaring at each other, a smashed plate on the floor between them. Sam felt Daniel and Teal'c appear on either side of her.

Worry filled Sam's head, were they fighting? They wouldn't do that, especially not on her birthday.

"Pete…General…what's happening?" she asked.

"We were just talking," Jack said, not taking his eyes off Pete.

"Yeah," Pete replied, he looked at Sam.

Sam felt Jack's eyes turn to her at the same time.

"Nothing to worry about," Pete said. "We'll clean it up."

She walked over and pulled Pete far enough away so that the others couldn't hear them.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking him in the eye.

Pete sighed. "He was giving some talk, like he's your father or something, about how if I don't good care of you he'll kick my ass."

Sam sighed. "He's just being protective."

"A bit too protective," Pete muttered.

"Who threw the plate?" she asked.

"No one, Jack knocked it off the bench," Pete replied.

"Is that all?" Sam asked.

Pete looked at her for a long time.

"No…" he said, then he sighed. "I got jealous, I saw the card on the teddy he gave you."

Sam breathed in deeply. "It's nothing Pete…"

"I know," he said. "It was stupid…I'm sorry. I'm gonna go clean up the plate and then I have to head home, I have work early tomorrow."

"You should stay here," Sam said.

"I need to get to sleep, these guys won't be clearing out for a while," Pete said. "But thanks for the offer."

They walked back over to the others, Sam could feel Jack's eyes directly on her. She'd barely talked to him all night, it'd been so awkward earlier she hadn't known what to say to him.

She watched as Jack and Pete cleared up the plate together and put the empty pieces in the bin. She had a really bad feeling inside, she'd lied to Pete and he'd believed her, not even a second thought. He'd believed there was nothing between her and Jack.

But there was, she knew that. Sure sometimes they were awkward and off, sometimes they barely spoke at all unless for military reasons, but at other times they were the closest friends they could possibly be.

Most of the time they were something more.

"Hey, I'm gonna go," Pete said, walking up to Sam. "Happy birthday, I'll see you tomorrow?"

Sam nodded. "Sure."

"Love you," he said, kissing her lightly on the forehead and leaving.

Instead of watching Pete's back as he left she found herself staring intently at Jack who was doing the same back at her. She couldn't seem to pull her gaze away from his. His eyes held more pain than she'd ever seen in a person. The hurt went deeper than she'd even thought about…

The same hurt she'd felt when she'd seen how close he'd been to Laira, and that was nothing compared to this.

"I'm going to…talk to Cassie," Daniel said, pointing at the living room before disappearing.

Teal'c followed.

Sam didn't know what to say. She wanted to turn, leave, run away. But she couldn't, she was stuck there in that position.

Jack didn't seem to know what to say or do either. He stood in his spot, about five metres from her, staring into her eyes. Sam looked down at her finger, she'd worn her engagement ring tonight. She barely ever wore it at work, it felt strange to her, but she'd worn it today, her birthday.

"It's pretty," Jack said.

She looked up again. "What?"

"The ring," he said.

"Oh," Sam replied, subconsciously swinging her arm behind her back so he couldn't see her hand. "Yeah…"

"I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?"

"The card."

"Oh," Sam didn't know what to say again.

She felt like she had to say something.

Actually she had lots of things she needed, wanted, to say to him. But she couldn't, they were things she should never tell anyone.

"Sam…" he started.

"Don't," she said quietly.

It was a warning. Simple and clear. Don't say anything you'll regret.

If she hadn't known him better she would have expected him to burst into tears. To cry. The pain in his expression was too much. She felt the tears welling up inside of her, she tried to push them back. He wouldn't cry, and here she was about to cry because of the pain on his face.

She looked away, at the floor, breathing in deeply.

"Sir, I…thanks for the teddy," she said.

"Your welcome," he replied. "Carter, I'm gonna go."

"Ok," she replied.

"Happy birthday," he said as he walked past her, towards the exit of the room.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him back around.

She was about to burst into tears. Now what was she supposed to say? She was standing here holding on his arm, not wanting him to leave, yet knowing that if he stood there for much longer she would regret it.

He looked down at her hand clamped around his arm.

Pete loved her. And she loved him too…right?

She searched Jack's face, looking for some kind of reaction. He looked up at her.

The emotion was overwhelming, more than she'd ever felt around Pete.

This was different.

"Carter…" he said, it was half a warning half a question.

"Sorry…" she said, letting go of his arm. "Don't go yet…stay a bit longer…"

He nodded and turned around, heading back to the living room.

Sam stayed in the kitchen, alone.

**OoO**

"Goodnight Sam!" Daniel said. "Hope you had a great birthday!"

"I did, thanks Daniel," Sam said, forcing herself to smile.

She hadn't actually had such a great day, not since the Pete and Jack incident.

"Happy Birthday ColonelCarter," Teal'c said, bowing his head slightly.

"Thanks Teal'c," she said.

The two of them turned and headed towards Daniel's car.

"Wait!" Cassie said. "I need a lift home!"

She gave Sam a quick hug.

"Goodnight Cassie," Sam said, smiling again.

"Hey Sam…choose well," she said, then she turned and ran off to join Daniel and Teal'c.

_Choose well?_ What was that supposed to mean…?

"Hey Carter, you seen T?" Jack asked, wandering up.

"He just left," Sam replied.

"Dang…he left his hat," Jack explained, showing her the cowboy hat Teal'c had been wearing earlier.

"Yes, sir," Sam said.

"Well I'm gonna head off," Jack said. "Considering everyone else is gone…"

"Yeah," Sam said.

Him staying after everyone else would be a really bad idea.

"Look Carter, I'm really sorry about before," he said.

"It's OK," she replied.

"I…have another present for you," he said, looking at her intensely. "Close your eyes."

She did so.

For a few moments there was nothing and then she felt his breath against her face. She breathed in deeply and leaned forward, kissing him on the lips. He seemed surprised for a moment that she'd been the one to start it…

They stood there for a long time, just them. She felt him pull away and didn't wanna let him go, but she knew she had to.

It would be the first and last time she ever kissed him.

The hurt in his eyes was still there, but he smiled slightly.

"Happy birthday," he said, turning around to leave, walking down the stairs quickly.

"Jack," she called after him.

He turned around and faced her. "Yes?"

"Thank you," she said.

"Anytime," he replied, and then he was gone.

She stood there for a long moment, pondering what had just happened, before turning around and heading inside to clean up the mess. She wandered to the table and picked up the teddy bear he'd given her, hugging it tightly.

A tear fell down her cheek as she hugged it.

She looked at the card again, knowing he meant it.

_Love Jack_

She sighed and turned around to the chaos in her living room. She had a lot of chaos to clean up in her life.

But right now she was going to go to sleep and think things through.

She kept the teddy in her hand as she headed to sleep.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**A/N: **_Please review!! Thanks for reading guys :D_


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